Of Utopia and utopias: traces of Thomas More’s Utopia in the enlightened project of the New Settlements of Sierra Morena and Andalusia (Spain, 1767–72)

Abstract

The influence of Thomas More on Spanish utopian intellectuals and social reformers extends well into the eighteenth century. This article undertakes a detailed survey and an updating of the textual parallelisms connecting Utopia with the foundation of the New Settlements of Andalusia in 1767. It also presents a socio-historical perspective, which evinces a line of continuity connecting the New Settlements with an early Spanish Christian (Catholic) utopian tradition and practice, as seen in the earlier promoters of settlement programs in Spanish America. This last point is well illustrated by a series of biographical parallelisms between Thomas More and Pablo de Olavide, the Superintendent of the New Settlements.